Local By-laws Research Articles

Indiscriminate use and inappropriate application of agrochemicals by smallholder farmers in Amhara Region, Ethiopia: Implications for sustainable beekeeping, crop and livestock production

This study was conducted to investigate the knowledge gaps regarding the use of agrochemicals by the farming communities in the Amhara Region, Ethiopia and its impact on beekeeping, crop and livestock production. The primary data were collected through household surveys, key informant interviews, focus group discussions and researchers’ observations. A total of 540 farmers (270 beekeepers and 270 non-beekeepers) were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. The survey data was analyzed using SPSS software version 21, while the qualitative data was analyzed using content analysis. The results revealed that beekeeping contributes significantly to the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in the Amhara Region, mainly through the provision of hive products for home consumption and income but also for pollination services. The trends in the past decade showed that honeybee colony holdings and hive productivity had decreased due to indiscriminate use of agrochemicals, among others. Both beekeeper and non-beekeeper farmers in the study areas have been using different types of agrochemicals to control crop pests, diseases and weeds, and in some areas farmers used herbicides to clear weeds from pastureland. Farmers also stated that they are already aware of the negative effects of agrochemicals on honeybees. Nevertheless, the applications of agrochemicals are continuing without attitudinal changes. The results also showed that farmers purchase agrochemicals from legal as well as illegal vendors without proper understanding of their safe use and the expiry dates. Farmers’ use of agrochemicals in violation of the technical recommendations on their proper applications; they ignore risks and safety instructions, use unsafe storage facilities, do not use protective devices when applying agrochemicals, and dispose of agrochemical containers unsafely. The findings demonstrated that apart from the direct effects on honeybees, indiscriminate and inappropriate application of agrochemicals even poses risks to the lives of farmers. Beekeepers, non-beekeepers and both crop and livestock experts revealed that nowadays IPM has not been used by farmers as an alternative to synthetic agrochemicals. Farmers are also unaware of the legal frameworks available to protect honeybees from the negative effects of agrochemicals, and they have not developed local bylaws that can be used by farming communities to protect honeybees from the negative effects of agrochemicals. The results also showed that the direct economic losses incurred due to the loss of honey bee colonies from the indiscriminate application of agrochemicals run into ETB 11,520,000.00 /USD422,133.00/. Thus, the indiscriminate use of agrochemicals has become one of the major threats to the development of beekeeping, crop and livestock production. Therefore, very strong actions are needed by concerned and responsible stakeholders to save the lives of honeybees. The interventions to reduce agrochemical exposure should be implemented through context-specific and integrated approaches.

The current state of regulatory and legal protection of the rights of representatives of the LGBT+ community in Ukraine

The article reveals the current state of regulatory and legal protection of the rights of representatives of the LGBT+ community in Ukraine. The importance of the topic is emphasized due to the following circumstances: 1) LGBT+ representatives make up a significant part of the population and have the same rights as any other person; 2) domestic legislation is gradually approaching the standards of the European Union in terms of prohibition of discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity; 3) the full- scale invasion of the russian federation on the territory of Ukraine caused numerous violations of human rights in the temporarily occupied territories, which largely related to manifestations of intolerance towards members of the LGBT+ community. The classification of regulatory and legal acts related to ensuring the rights of representatives of the LGBT+ community in Ukraine based on the criterion of their division into acts of the legislative and sub-legal levels is substantiated. The exceptional importance of the Constitution of Ukraine as a legislative act of the highest legal force for the proper protection of the rights of representatives of the LGBT+ community is emphasized. It is pointed out the need to improve the norms of the national legislation for the proper provision by the state of the legal rights, freedoms and interests of the person and the citizen and to strengthen the effectiveness of the current legislation in countering any manifestations of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. About sub-legal acts, attention has been drawn to the fact that at the local (functional, local) level, authorized persons may accept documents recognizing sexual orientation and gender identity as a basis that makes any manifestations of discrimination impossible. At the same time, local by-laws cannot go beyond legislative norms, which do not contain an extensive list of grounds on which discrimination is not allowed. It was concluded that the current state of regulatory and legal protection of the rights of representatives of the LGBT+ community in Ukraine should be considered unsatisfactory.

Effectiveness of community-based monitoring projects of terrestrial game fauna in the tropics: a global review

Biodiversity monitoring projects comprise key conservation strategies established to minimize biodiversity loss. Particularly, community-based monitoring projects have recently been implemented worldwide. This approach favors three conservation pillars: provision of information on monitored resource through time, local people’s empowerment, and management practices. We conducted a systematic literature review to identify all past and current community-based monitoring projects of terrestrial game fauna in the tropics, and specifically examined seventeen of those projects in terms of costs, interruption and effectiveness. We identified a total of 52 projects, mostly located in the Amazon. We revealed an annual cost of US$0.24/hectare/project, with most of these initiatives interrupted due the lack of funding. We also noticed that the absence of data analyses comprised the main obstacle for the assessment on monitored game fauna through time, while empowerment was hampered by the lack of intensive local participation at different stages of monitoring. Finally, we observed that most management actions resulted in community rules and applications, including local bylaws governing resource use. We highlight that community-based programs can be more effective if they engage local people at all monitoring stages, build solid partnerships to ensure long-term funding and translate the outcomes into management practices for the monitored fauna.

Community Participation in the Delivery of Municipal Council Services in Zambia – A Case Study of Choma District

This study sought to explore the nature and extent of community participation in the service delivery by Choma Municipal Council, focusing on the role of community involvement in enhancing local authority services. A mixed method research design, combining qualitative and quantitative methods, was used to investigate the perspectives and experiences of both community members and key informants. The findings show that community members are involved in planning and decision-making processes (70.3%) and implementation (23.4%), with limited engagement in the evaluation process. Legal and policy frameworks, including the Zambia National Decentralization Policy and local by-laws, support community participation. However, 89.8% of respondents feel that these frameworks are insufficient. The study reveals that community participation positively impacts service delivery, aiding local councils in understanding community needs and fostering effective feedback mechanisms. Factors hindering community participation include lack of knowledge and opportunities, lack of interest, and inadequate funding. Recommendations for enhancing community participation include supporting active representation of community members, capacity building for community leaders, promoting transparency and accountability, fostering partnerships with NGOs and civil society organizations, and utilizing radio programs for community sensitization and engagement.

Threats and management options of the green belt natural forest, northwest lowlands of Ethiopia

The natural forest located across central Africa from Gambia (West Africa) to Ethiopia (East Africa) is believed to break the expansion of the great Sahara Desert towards the southern and south eastern Africa, as a green belt. However, natural and anthropogenic factors are challenging the existence of the forest. Thus, this study was conducted to investigate the spatio-temporal dynamics, threats and sustainable management options of the green belt forest (GBF) located in Ethiopia. Satellite imagery was used to assess the GBF cover dynamics between the year 1980 and 2020 using ERDAS IMAGINE software. ArcGIS software was used for spatial analysis and mapping. Field observation, focus group discussions, and questionnaire based interview were used to collect the required data and SPSS software was used for analysis. The result showed that farmland increased from 32% (in 1980) to 52% (in 2020), whereas, the GBF cover decreased from 58% (in 1980) to 39% (in 2020), with the overall classification accuracy and kappa coefficient of 86% and 81%, respectively. Re-settlement, large-scale agricultural investment, charcoal production, fuel wood, and road construction were among the important threats causing the GBF reduction. Investors, settlers, migrants, residents and day-workers are agents of the GBF cover reduction. To minimize deforestation and sustainably use the GBF local bylaws, delineating and keeping the GBF from human interferences, building awareness, enrichment plantation, and alternative firewood sources were identified as management options. Therefore, to maintain the GBF and break the expansion of the Sahara Desert, governmental and non-governmental organization and the local community ought to apply the recommended GBF management options.

Animal Protection, Law Enforcement, and Occupational Health: Qualitative Action Research Highlights the Urgency of Relational Coordination in a Medico-Legal Borderland.

Simple SummaryIn this article, we report on action research in the Canadian province of Alberta, based on forging alliances with officers who enforce federal, provincial, and municipal legislation involving animals. Some of these officers worked in rural areas, and others worked in urban areas. Some mainly enforced Alberta’s Animal Protection Act, while a few specialized in enforcing Canada’s Criminal Code. For the most part, however, participating officers had a mandate to enforce animal-related local bylaws. Such ordinances or rulebooks exist because Alberta’s Municipal Government Act allows local councils to enact legislation regarding domestic and wild animals, particularly as regards people’s health, property, safety, and welfare. Many professionals refer to policies such as these, which are deeply rooted in the western legal tradition, such as “animal control.” Our findings illuminate how animal-control policies and personnel can help to protect domesticated animals, not just people. Even so, our research highlights that animal-control policies as well as animal-protection policies routinely fail to protect officers who enforce legislation involving animals. Furthermore, whenever officers who enforce legislation involving animals work in unsafe conditions, this endangers human as well as non-human lives.Across Canada and internationally, laws exist to protect animals and to stop them from becoming public nuisances and threats. The work of officers who enforce local bylaws protects both domestic animals and humans. Despite the importance of this work, research in this area is emergent, but growing. We conducted research with officers mandated to enforce legislation involving animals, with a focus on local bylaw enforcement in the province of Alberta, Canada, which includes the city of Calgary. Some experts regard Calgary as a “model city” for inter-agency collaboration. Based on partnerships with front-line officers, managers, and professional associations in a qualitative multiple-case study, this action-research project evolved towards advocacy for occupational health and safety. Participating officers spoke about the societal benefits of their work with pride, and they presented multiple examples to illustrate how local bylaw enforcement contributes to public safety and community wellbeing. Alarmingly, however, these officers consistently reported resource inadequacies, communication and information gaps, and a culture of normalized disrespect. These findings connect to the concept of “medico-legal borderlands,” which became central to this study. As this project unfolded, we seized upon opportunities to improve the officers’ working conditions, including the potential of relational coordination to promote the best practices.

Eco-Efficiency Analysis of Integrated Waste Management Strategies Based on Gasification and Mechanical Biological Treatment

Integrated solid waste management (ISWM) strategies are developed towards promoting sustainable approaches for handling waste. Recently, gasification and mechanical biological treatment (MBT) technologies were recognized as effective processes for treating municipal solid waste. This study investigates the feasibility of integrating gasification and MBT technologies in multiple ISWM strategies, compared to incineration- and anaerobic digestion (AD)-based strategies. A comprehensive techno-economic and environmental assessment was carried out to evaluate the performance of the examined ISWM strategies. The evaluation was based on the energy generation potential, carbon footprint, and life cycle costing (LCC). An eco-efficiency analysis was conducted to quantify the environmental costs by incorporating the carbon footprint and LCC results. The proposed strategies were applied for the city of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, based on local bylaws and guidelines. The analysis revealed that the gasification-based strategy had the highest energy production of 47.0 million MWh, followed by the incineration- (34.2 million MWh), AD- (17.2 million MWh), and MBT-based (14.9 million MWh) strategies. Results of the environmental analysis indicated that the MBT- and AD-based strategies contributed the least to global warming with greenhouse gas emissions of 4442 and 4539 GgCO2-eq, respectively, compared to the gasification- (9922 GgCO2-eq) and incineration-based (15,700 GgCO2-eq) strategies. Furthermore, over a 25-year assessment period, the LCC findings demonstrated that the gasification- and MBT-based strategies were the most financially feasible with a positive net present value (NPV) of USD 364 and USD 284 million, respectively. The eco-efficiency analysis indicated that the MBT and gasification strategies are the most sustainable among the examined strategies. The sustainability of the assessed systems was improved by implementing policy and legal reforms, including incentive programs, less stringent bylaws on digestate, and encouraging source separation of wastes. Overall, this research emphasized the potential environmental and financial benefits of incorporating MBT and gasification technologies into ISWM strategies.

Regulating the Smart City in European Municipalities: A Case Study of Amsterdam

This article studies how local governments interface with the adoption of smart city initiatives, and the challenges this poses from a public law perspective. Although every smart city develops within an administrative territory regulated by a local government, this dimension often remains overlooked in legal and smart city literature. Municipal governments can act as regulators through their existing competences in spatial planning, environmental protection, local by-laws, financial subsidies, and partnerships. However, through an analysis of the Amsterdam Smart City program, this article shows that the smart city challenges this traditional role as regulator. Specifically, it observes four elements: (1) fragmentation, (2) networked governance, (3) multilevel governance, and (4) experimentation. These elements illustrate four challenges for the role and position of municipalities in the smart city: (1) collaborating across municipal departments, (2) steering smart city programs through public-private networks, (3) navigating the limits of local government’s powers on smart city issues, and (4) experimenting with new forms of public procurement. These challenges push municipal governments to find new ways to fulfil their role as public authorities, such as the creation of new municipal departments, the development of soft law instruments, and the use of innovative procurement. Legal research needs to examine these shifts in a context where citizens’ rights are put under pressure. smart city, municipal government, local government, public-private partnerships, networks, governance, privatization, digitization

Study Paper on Public Hearings: An Examination of Public Participation in the Adoption of Local Bylaws on Land Use and Planning

Study Paper on Public Hearings: An Examination of Public Participation in the Adoption of Local Bylaws on Land Use and Planning

Horizontal and vertical influences in colonial legal transplantation: water by-laws in British Palestine

Abstract Local by-laws were the primary tool for local governments in British-ruled Palestine to exercise their authority, and water was the paradigmatic subject for local legislation. Looking at the diffusion of legal norms in local by-laws in the 1930s and 1940s, the article examines the dynamics of lawmaking in a context characterized both by imperial rule and intercommunal conflict. The article asks two major questions: to what extent did the by-laws adopt legal norms and forms across communal boundaries? And was the legislation passed by local governments as the product of local preferences and initiative, or did it rather reflect the desires of the British rulers? Understanding the processes of legal transplantation at the local level can help shed light on a number of issues. For the history of Mandate Palestine, it can refine our understanding of the degree to which the Arab and Jewish communities, engaged in sustained conflict, nonetheless interacted in the fields of urban infrastructure and local lawmaking. For imperial environmental history, it provides an opportunity to test theories about water policy as an expression of top-down power. For the legal history of empire, it highlights a level of lawmaking, located somewhere between imperial imposition and indigenous resistance, that has largely been neglected. And for understanding of legal transplantation or diffusion, it offers a fine-grained case study in the way in which legal norms might move—and transform—across jurisdictional, communal, and cultural lines.

ПРОБЛЕМЫ ПРАВОВОГО РЕЖИМА ЗЕМЕЛЬ ТРАНСПОРТА В РОССИЙСКОЙ ФЕДЕРАЦИИ

The article examines the problems of the legal regime of land transport. Transport is the most important component of the production and social sphere, in connection with which the problems of legal regulation of transport lands are urgent. The authors refer to the problems of the legal regime of transport lands: the problem of imbalance in the development of a unified transport system of the Russian Federation; the problem of legal uncertainty in the practice of applying legislation in the field of legal regulation of lands of various types of transport; the legal problem of land use of transport lands in the process of formation of Russian urban settlements. According to the authors, in order to resolve legal conflicts, it is necessary to correlate the norms of transport legislation with the norms and documents of territorial planning, which are established by state authorities and local self-government bodies, which are local by-laws. This condition is necessary, among other things, to ensure the safety of transport infrastructure facilities.

Perceptions, concerns, and management of white-tailed deer among municipal officials

ABSTRACT Municipal governments are emerging as important stakeholders in managing the populations and geographic distributions of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in urban and suburban areas of the Northeastern United States. To understand the variation in municipal-level concerns about deer and municipal policies related to deer management, we distributed a questionnaire to all 351 municipalities across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 2017 (response rate = 74%) and collected data on local bylaws that influence hunting access. We found that concerns about deer vary across the state and some municipalities are taking action to manage increasing deer populations. In particular, our analysis established the importance of deer and deer management in the suburban regions of Massachusetts, while uncovering many local differences within similar suburban areas. The varying relationships between deer populations, public concerns, and municipal actions illustrated the complex role of municipal decision-makers in shaping wildlife management programs.

An empirical analysis of SMES’ triple bottom line practices

PurposeThis study aims to examine the determinants of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) sustainability practices in New Zealand from the triple bottom line (3BL) perspective. Unlike large companies and government agencies whose sustainability practices are driven by regulations and attempts to legitimise business operations, little is known about the drivers of SMEs’ sustainability practices.Design/methodology/approachA cross-sectional survey approach was adopted for the data collection. The analysis was mainly descriptive, while the covariates’ effects were measured based on partial least squares structural equation modelling.FindingsThis paper identified that SMEs’ 3BL practices are significantly influenced by local bylaws, voluntary adoption of 3BL operational policies and company size. This paper finds that the SMEs’ industry type is not statistically significant as a determinant of their 3BL practices. This implies that regulation and operational policies increase sustainability practices in the SME sector.Practical implicationsThese findings provide insights to SMEs’ managers on the importance of sustainability policies adoption and bylaws. Government departments and local government councils could adopt the findings in developing regulatory policies that support SMEs’ 3BL.Social implicationsThis study provides support for economically, environmentally and socially sustainable business practices amongst SMEs.Originality/valueA dearth of studies on SMEs sustainability practices exists in the extant literature, particularly in New Zealand. The study focusses on SMEs sustainability in the viewpoint of 3BL practices based on an empirical analysis.

Representations of Free-Living and Unrestrained Dogs as an Emerging Public Health Issue in Australian Newspapers

That dogs can live and breed as free-living animals contributes to public health risks including zoonotic transmission, dog bites, and compromising people’s sense of safety in public spaces. In Australia, free-living dog populations are comprised of domestic dogs, dingoes, and dog–dingo hybrids, and are described using various terms (for example, stray or community), depending on social or geographic context. Urban expansion and regional migration mean that risks associated with contact between humans and free-living dogs are increasing. Public health authorities, local governments, and community organisations have called for transdisciplinary partnerships to address dog-related health risks with a sustainable long-term approach. Values pluralism and a lack of sustained community engagement in affected areas have meant that the outcome of such efforts to date has been mixed. To identify ideas in public circulation about the impact of unrestrained and free-living dogs on human health and well-being, and understand the framework through which these animals are problematised and solutions are proposed in public discourse, we systematically examined coverage of these issues in print media. Our analyses indicate that reporting in Australian newspapers tends to frame the public health impacts of free-living dogs as problems of public order requiring direct government action to re-establish control. The public health impacts of free-living dog populations in Australia have complex causes that intersect at the nexus between human and canine behaviour, agricultural and land management practices, local bylaws, and efforts to conserve ecological systems. Placing responsibility on governments limits opportunities for greater community involvement in developing integrated One Health approaches. Better-quality evidence of the impacts of dog populations on community health and well-being, and broad community support are needed to reshape public debates on animal control, which, ultimately, will promote more effective approaches to mitigate dog-related public health risks at the human–animal–environment interface.

Assessment of carbon stock potential of parkland agroforestry practice: the case of Minjar Shenkora; North Shewa, Ethiopia

BackgroundThe anthropogenic global climate change has negative impacts on various sectors and communities who particularly rely on rain-fed agriculture. Parkland agroforestry practice can contribute to mitigate and adapt to the forthcoming climate change through carbon sequestration. However, empirical studies on carbon stocks potential of parklands agroforestry practices .MethodologyBy using two-stage stratified random sampling technique, 4 kebeles from two agro ecology were selected and 8 farms/plots/ of 40 m*40 m sample size were selected from each kebele for the vegetation inventory. Tree species-specific allometric equations were used to determine carbon stock potential of parkland agroforestry practice.ResultsThe result reveal that, AGC, BGC, SOC and Total Carbon have significant variation (p < 0.05) across kebeles. The mean total carbon stock of Bolo Giorgis, Bolo Slase, Agirat and Korma Agere is 48.87 Mg C ha− 1, 58.21 Mg C ha− 1, 57.81 Mg C ha− 1and 73.71 Mg C ha− 1; respectively. On average, carbon stock of parklands practice in Minjar shenkora was 59.65 Mg C ha− 1.ConclusionsThe parkland agroforestry practice has a large potential to deliver regulating ecosystem services like opportunities to mitigate the impending climate-changing through carbon sequestration and increasing the resilience of the agricultural system at Minjar shenkora woreda. To enhance the multiple ecosystem services of the parkland agroforestry practices in sustainable way: local by-laws should be strengthened to avoid illegal tree cutting and free grazing.

Теоретико-правовая природа нормативного регулирования в Закавказье в начале XIX в.

The author’s intention is to study the theoretical and legal essence of normative legal acts in force in Transcaucasia at the beginning of the 19th century. Through the provisions of legal acts and plots of historical and legal history, an attempt is made to explication and theoretical and legal analysis of the regulatory legal regulation of social relations and its ideological paradigms. The theoretical and legal basis of the analysis was the work of legal theorists. The regulatory framework of the study was constituted by the regulatory legal acts of the Russian Empire at the beginning of the 19th century. The methodological basis of the study was the general dialectical method of scientific knowledge, methods of empirical and theoretical nature (description, formalization, comparison, analysis, generalization, deduction and induction, hypothesis). Based on the analysis of the content of historical legal acts, it can be concluded that the doctrine of regulatory regulation was determined by the priority of state interests, which contributed to the development of public law branches of law. Legal regulation was carried out by local bylaws containing, as intended, regulatory and protective standards. The constituent legal precepts found themselves in the fundamental acts that legally formalized the most important institut ions of society. Power regulations in the form of expression as a whole were binding, and by the method of legal regulation were imperative.

Institutionalising federalism in Nepal: operationalising obstacles, procrastinated progress

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore how local government bodies in Nepal are empowered to play their constitutional roles and engage in activities to deliver public services at the doorsteps of the people effectively. The focus is on the institutionalisation of federalism, its implications for local governance, and capacity development of local authorities.Design/methodology/approachIdeas of decentralisation, governance and public management have been used to interpret findings based on qualitative research methods by key informant interviews, focus group discussions and personal observations conducted in five selected municipalities in Nepal.FindingsThe process of operationalising the power of local government bodies is more conventional and hierarchic. At the same time, the formulation and implementation of inclusive plans and budgeting are confined with certain formalities that do not necessarily allow citizens the space for voices. Federal government grants constrain fiscal jurisdiction and control over resource mobilisation. The mere preparation and administration of local government legislation and relevant by-laws have weakened the capacity of local government bodies.Originality/valueFrom interpretation of first-hand data, this paper has identified the pitfalls of the federalisation process, the constraints deter the devolution of power to local bodies as well as the transformation of local governments into autonomous institutions in Nepal.

Influence of Selected Institutional and Technological Factors on the Adoption of Sustainable Agriculture Technologies in Maize Farming in Mzimba South, Malawi

Sustainable Agriculture Technologies (SATs) significantly contribute to addressing the negative effects of land degradation, poor soil health and climate variability in the agriculture sector. Despite efforts made by different stakeholders in promoting SATs to improve maize productivity in Mzimba South in Malawi, the adoption of the technologies among small-scale farmers remains unsatisfactory. As a result, most of the farmers continue to realize low maize yields. A survey was conducted from July to September 2019 to investigate the influence of selected institutional and technological factors on the adoption of SATs in maize farming among the small-scale farmers in Mzimba South. A multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select a representative sample of 132 small-scale maize farming household heads. Data was collected using a researcher-administered questionnaire. Multivariate probit, ordered probit and ordinary least square (OLS) models were applied to determine the influence of the selected factors on the adoption of SATs at α level of .05 using STATA and SPSS. Qualitative data was analyzed by a deductive approach, in which responses were categorized and summarized under the related themes. The study established that the adoption of SATs was significantly influenced by membership in farmer organizations (FOs), access to extension services, and the levels of relative advantage and complexity associated with the SATs. The findings of the study implied that the Government of Malawi and relevant stakeholders in the agriculture sector need to train and recruit more extension field staff to improve coverage and frequency of extension services delivery on sustainable agriculture. The stakeholders should also promote affiliation of the small-scale farmers to FOs to improve access to agricultural extension services and production resources on sustainable farming. In addition, efforts should be made to develop and promote affordable mechanization options for reducing farm drudgery associated with the implementation of SATs. Furthermore, the Government of Malawi should facilitate the formulation, enactment, and enforcement of local by-laws for safeguarding the SATs and their related inputs (or raw materials) against vandalism, livestock damage, and bushfires.

Impact of Social and Institutional Factors on the Uptake of Conservation Agriculture: A Case of Zambia and Zimbabwe

Conservation agriculture (CA) involves the practice of three interlinked principles of minimum soil disturbance, a permanent soil cover and crop rotation. Despite the many stated benefits of the technology, its uptake in Africa has been slow. This study applies the theory of planned behaviour to investigate the attitudes, the role of the social system (social influence, by-laws and customs) and the institutional environment in the decision to practice CA principles and on the area under CA in Choma, Zambia and Nkayi, Zimbabwe. The study finds differing attitudes between districts towards CA outcomes. Local by-laws have a positive correlation with the practice of minimum soil disturbance but negative correlations with the practice of soil cover and crop rotation. Social influence and customs have significant relationships with the area under CA. Institutional support is perceived to be necessary for the practice of minimum soil disturbance but not so for the practice of crop rotation or on the area under CA. We conclude that the attitudes towards CA depend on the performance of the CA options promoted to farmers while the effects of the social system components and institutional factors on the uptake of CA depends on how the particular CA principle fits into the social and institutional environment in which it is promoted. We recommend agriculture extension services and policymakers to pay more attention to these issues in the promotion of CA.

‘A Continuous Process of Becoming’: The Relevance of Qualitative Research into the Storylines of Law

The maxim ‘law in books and law in action’ relays an implicit dichotomy, and though the constitutive nature of law is nowadays commonly professed, the reflex remains to use law in books as an autonomous starting point. Law however, it is argued in this article, has a storyline that commences before its institutional formalisation. Law as ‘a continuous process of becoming’ encompasses both law in books and law in action, and law in action encompasses timelines both before and after the formal coming about of law. To fully understand law, it is necessary to understand the entire storyline of law. Qualitative studies in law and society are well equipped to offer valuable insights on the facets of law outside the books. The insights are not additional to doctrinal understanding, but part and parcel of it. To illustrate this, an ethnographic case study of local bylaws regulating an ethnically diverse public space of everyday life is expanded upon. The case study is used to demonstrate the insights qualitative data yields with regard to the dynamics in which law comes about, and how these dynamics continue for law in action after law has made the books. This particular case study moreover exemplifies how law is one of many truths in the context in which it operates, and how formalised law is reflective of the power constellations that have brought it forth.